January 9, 2008, Introduced by Rep. Sak and referred to the Committee on Health Policy.
A bill to amend 1978 PA 368, entitled
"Public health code,"
(MCL 333.1101 to 333.25211) by adding section 9325.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 9325. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section,
before a licensed allopathic physician or osteopathic physician and
surgeon or an individual acting under delegatory authority and
supervision under section 16215 performs an assessment or
evaluation or refers a patient to another health professional for
an assessment or evaluation to determine whether the patient is
suffering from dementia, Alzheimer's disease, or a related
disorder, the physician or delegatee shall perform or cause to be
performed an evaluation of the patient's hearing. The hearing
evaluation under this section shall meet all of the following
requirements:
(a) Be performed by a health professional licensed or
registered under this act whose education, training, or experience
make him or her qualified to perform the hearing evaluation or be
performed by an individual licensed in the practice of selling or
fitting a hearing aid under the occupational code, 1980 PA 299, MCL
339.101 to 339.2919.
(b) Be a tone test utilizing an audiometric device or other
device approved by the department.
(2) If a hearing evaluation performed under this section
indicates that the patient does not have a hearing impairment, the
physician or delegatee may perform an assessment or evaluation or
refer a patient to another health professional for an assessment or
evaluation to determine whether the patient is suffering from
dementia, Alzheimer's disease, or a related disorder. If a hearing
evaluation performed under this section indicates that the patient
has a hearing impairment, the physician or delegatee shall not
perform an assessment or evaluation or refer a patient to another
health professional for an assessment or evaluation to determine
whether the patient is suffering from dementia, Alzheimer's
disease, or a related disorder until the patient's hearing
impairment has been treated. If, after a patient's hearing
impairment has been treated, the physician or delegatee, in his or
her best medical judgment, believes that an evaluation to determine
whether the patient is suffering from dementia, Alzheimer's
disease, or a related disorder is necessary, the physician or
delegatee may perform the assessment or evaluation or refer a
patient to another health professional for the assessment or
evaluation.
(3) This section does not apply to any of the following:
(a) A patient who has a known hearing impairment and who has
received treatment for that hearing impairment within the past 3
years.
(b) A patient whose hearing was medically evaluated during the
6-month period preceding the assessment or evaluation to determine
whether the patient is suffering from dementia, Alzheimer's
disease, or a related disorder.
(c) A patient who declines in writing, or whose patient's
representative declines in writing, the hearing evaluation.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect January
1, 2008.